Hunch Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms hunch American [huhnch] / hʌntʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to thrust out or up in a hump; arch.

   to hunch one's back.

2. to shove, push, or jostle.

verb (used without object)

1. to thrust oneself forward jerkily; lunge forward.

2. to stand, sit, or walk in a bent posture.

noun

1. a premonition or suspicion; guess.

   I have a hunch he'll run for reelection.

   Synonyms: conjecture, theory, feeling, surmise

2. a hump.

3. a push or shove.

4. a lump or thick piece.

hunch British / hʌntʃ /

noun

1. an intuitive guess or feeling

2. another word for hump

3. a lump or large piece

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. to bend or draw (oneself or a part of the body) up or together

2. to sit in a hunched position

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of hunch

1590–1600; 1900–05 hunch for def. 5; apparently variant of obsolete hinch to push, shove, kick < ?

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Christy plans to travel to the wilds of southern Utah, where, she has a hunch, the riches will be found.

From The Wall Street Journal

Judging by the laundry list of musicians who flocked to the Hotel Cafe in those early years, his hunch was spot-on.

From Los Angeles Times

The off-spinner is an untested theory, an idea, or even a hunch.

From BBC

“You have a hunch, you have a gut feeling, you sort of go down a rabbit hole,” she said, “and you hope that it works.”

From Los Angeles Times

Cameron Winter hunched over the keys on a nearly pitch-black stage at the downtown Los Angeles’s Palace Theatre.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• inkling
• instinct
• intuition
• premonition

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.